4-yr-old still critical with dengue

Four-year-old Tasneem Jafri, daughter of Malwani resident Tariq who died of dengue on Wednesday, is also suffering from the deadly disease. She was shifted from the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital to the BMC-run Nair Hospital.

Four-year-old Tasneem Jafri, daughter of Malwani resident Tariq who died of dengue on Wednesday, is also suffering from the deadly disease. She was shifted from the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital to the BMC-run Nair Hospital on Friday evening.

Deceased Tariq, 32, his widow Shakila, 30, and Tasneem have been suffering from dengue since December 1. “Tasneem is in respiratory distress and has also fluid accumulation in her right chest. She is in the intensive care unit,” said a doctor from Nair Hospital adding that the mother, Shakila is stable.

Tasneem's mother Shakila has been admitted in the general ward. “Tasneem's liver is swollen heavily, and she is on oxygen support in the ICU at Nair Hospital. We are praying that she will recover,” said Tasneem's uncle Sakib.

At least 11 residents from a Mhada residential colony in Malwani have contracted dengue over the past month. After the sudden death of Tariq within five days of acquiring high grade fever, BMC workers were seen fogging the houses in the colony.

The residents are upset that it took a death for the civic body to wake up. “The BMC has done nothing to educate the masses as to how to prevent dengue. It was only after Tariq's death that the officials fumigated the area for the sake of it,” said a resident, Akhtar Khan.